Time-clock.



J. KAUF.

TIME CLOCK,

' APPLICATION man SEPT. 1, :915. l 1 96,367 Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

s sains-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES: 1./VVEN1'0R.

J. KAUF.

TIME CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.1.19|5.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A MoH/VE r. I

mu. n c.

J. KAUF.

TIME CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I, w15.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

CTT

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH KAUF, 0F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH T0 S. T.MCMILLIN, 0F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

TIME-CLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

Application led September 1, 1915. Serial No. 48,475.

To all whom it may concern Bc it known that I, JOSEPH KAUP, a citizen.of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Time- Clocks, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a aart hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in time-clocks, and is morespecifically directed to the signal actuating mechanism by which theworkmen are notified when to begin or leave their work.

It consists in the novel features of construction more fully set forthin the specification and pointed out in the claims.

The object of the present invention is to provide a signal or an alarmactuating mechanism that will be automatically controlled by the timeclock, which regulates the working hours of employees in large shops andplants. Further objects are to provide an alarm actuating mechanism thatwill be directly controlled by the arbor of one of the clock-hands; onethat may be mounted inside the clock housing; one that is simple, yetpositive in its action; and one possessing other advantages betterapparent from a detailed description of the invention with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents a frontelevation of a clock, with parts broken away, showing my inventionapplied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged top edge view of the actuatingrmechanism mounted between the clock-works frame and dial; Fig. 8 is aface view of my invention with the several parts in their respectivepositions when the signal or alarm is silent; Fig. -iis a rear view ofthe invention with the respective parts in proper position during thesounding of the alarm; Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section on theA line5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevational front detail of thespring contacts and links controlling the same showing the actuatingmechanism just before its release from the tripper pins; Fig. 7 is atransverse section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6; Fig. 3 is an enlargeddetail similar to Fig. 6, the mechanism however being shown in itstripped position, and on its return or upward stroire. Fig. 9 is atransverse section on the line 9.-?) of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 .is an enlargedcross-sectional detail on the line 10-10 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 11 is anenlarged view showing in top plan the details of the lever whichcontrols one part of the alarm circuit.

Referring to the drawing, C, represents a conventional clock-housing orcasing for the clock-frame F and clock-works (not shown) as wellunderstood in the art. Mounted in the frame F is the minute-hand arborA, which is directly driven by the clock-works, said arbor having adrive pinion w mounted thereon adjacent the clockframe F and theminute-hand H fixed to its outer end. The minute-hand arbor A has thehollow hour-hand arbor or sleeve A loosely mounted thereon at a pointoutside the frame F, said arbor A carrying the hour-hand H at its outerend. The arbor A is driven from the pinion w meshing with a gear wheelWV on a counter-shaft n, said shaft being provided with a pinion w whichmeshes with a gear wheel W on the arbor A. Secured to the frame F bymeans of brackets a or their equivalent is a bent plate P, the samebeing interposed between the frame F and the dial D. At a convenientpoint the plate P is provided with a circular opening O which receivesthe hub s of a rotatable disk 1, which overlaps the opening along one(front) face of the plate P, the end of the hub having secured thereto adisk 2 overlapping the opening along the opposite (rear) face of theplate, said disk 9. being provided with a central tubular hub or bearing2 for the arbor A traversing the opening O of the rotatable disk 1 andits hub s. The overlapping of the edges of the opening O by the members1, 2., insures against displacement of the disk l, once its hub s ismounted in said opening. The disk l rotates in unison with the arbor A',being secured thereto by a clamp 3 which spans and grips the arbor, thefree ends of the clamp being secured together by a screw 4 and nut 5,and the middle portion of the clamp being passed around or embracing apin or stud 6 projecting from the outer face of the disk.

Secured to the disk l and projecting from the face thereof near itsperiphery, are tripper pins 79, 79', 7? and ;0, the first three of whichare of equal length while the pin p is somewhat longer for a purpose tobecome apparent later. Mounted on the front of the plate P is anoscillating lever 7, the short arm of which is adapted to besuccessively engaged and tripped by the pins p, 2J', p", 20"', uponrotation of the disk 1, while the long arm of said lever has connectedto it a link 8 which is relatively movable longitudinally to a secondlink 9, said links being slidably connected by straps 10,( 10, securedto the link 3, the link 9 passing loosely through said straps. Bearingagainst the lower edge of the long arm of the lever7 is the free end ofa flexed spring 11 whose Vfixed end is secured by means of a clip i1.(or otherwise) to the plate P, said lever arm being limited in itsupward movement or oscillation by a stop or bracket 12 secured to theplate P. Projecting laterally from the upper portion of the plate P isan arm a' with a depending portion bent outwardly from the plane of theplate. Pivotally connected to the member is one end oit' a lever 13, thelink 9 being pivotally coupled to said lever at a point removed from thefulcrum thereof a distance equal substantially to one third the lengthoic the lever. The tree end of the lever 13 has pivotally securedthereto the lower end of a vertically reciprocating rackbar 1li, theteeth t whereof mesh with the pins of a` face-gear pinion 15 secured to,and disposed about the axis of, a fly-wheel 16 mounted between thestandards S, S', on the plate P, the standard S being formed integrallywith said plate, the standards S' being secured to the base of thestandard S. rlhe standards S' is provided with a laterally projectingguide 17 for receiving the rack-bar 14E and holding it in contact withthe pinion 15 during the rack-bars reciprocations. Mounted on a stud 1Ssecured to, and projecting from the :tront of the plate P adjacent thedisk 1, is a disk 19 provided with radially disposed arms 20, said diskbeing adapted to clear, and rotate in front of, the disk 1 which itslightly overlaps. nl e object of the overlapping is to allow the pin22"' to engage the arms 20 for a purpose presently to be seen. rlhe disk19 may be provided with any suitable and appropriate number of arms(there being six in the present case). Projecting from the rear face ofthe disk 19 are pins m, m, m, equally spaced apart (the number of pinsbeing equal to haltl the number of arms on the disk 19) upon any oneortwo of which rests the tree end of a vertically oscillatable gravitylever 21 pivotally secured at one end to the plate P a suitable distancefrom the disk 19. Projecting from the lever 21 on the side opposite fromthe disk 19 is a stud 22 provided with an outer sleeve 23 between whichand the stud is interposed an insulating layer 24. i Projecting upwardlyfrom the plate Padjacent the standard S is an angle bracket 25 to whichare secured socket-contacts 26, 26', for lreceiving the wires 27, 27',the former z', in which are respectively secured springarms or contacts30, 30', the` outer end of the arm or contact 30 being bent above theplane of the arm 30' (P ig. rlhe contact 430 at a point adjacent theholder 29 has formed therein a slight depression a', to which isconnected the bottom flattened extension c oi the socket contact 26,said extension being bent at right angles to the socket 26 in order tomeet the depressed portion l referred to (Pigs. 2, e). rPhe contact 30'is provided at its free outer end with a Z-contact piece 31 for engagingthe contact 30 when desired. Mounted on the same side of the plate Pwith the holder 29 and slightly beneath said holder is a second socketedholder 32 in which are suitably mounted, and properly insulated theconductors 33, 33', the conductor 33 being suitably bent to couple withthe flattened basal extension e' of the socket contact 26', and theconductor 33' being suitably bent to conneet with the contact 30'.Secured at one end to a hinge piece y' and insulated therefrom, are apair of conjointly oscillating spring contacts 34, 341', the hingemember j and said contacts oscillating about a pin 35 projecting fromthe plate P on the side opposite that carrying the stop 12. The freeends of the conductors 33, 33', are in permanent rubbing contact at :cand fc' with the hinged terminals of the oscillating contacts 311, 311',respectively. Projecting from the link 8 is a pin 36 provided with aninsulated sleeve i), a similar pin 36' projecting on the same side fromthe link 9 and provided with an insulated sleeve o', said pins beingspaced apart to receive between them the resilient contacts 34C, 31',which normally tend to spread apart and thus permanently bear againstthe sleeves o, o', carried by said pins. rPhe distance between the pins36, 36', is variable as we shall presently see, the maximum separationbeinO reached when the terminal lug 9' oi' the sliding link 9 strikesthe adjacent strap 10 on the link 8.

The operation of the invention will now be described, and forconvenience we will assume that the clock shown in Fig. 1 is for use inabusiness house or shop where the working hours are from 8 oclock a. m.to 12 oclock noon, and from 12 :30 oclock p. m. to 4:30 oclock p. m.,thus making it necessary for the signal to be given the workmen at thesehours. When the clock is running the hour-hand arbor A carries the disk1 around with it in its rotation, the disk and the pins p, 29', p, p",consequently making one revolution every twelve hours. The pins p, p, p,p", are so disposed on the disk 1 that they will successively engage andtrip the short arm of the lever 7 upward before said pins can passthe'lever, and the pins are so spaced around the disk as to release thelever 7, after having tripped it, at a predetermined time. Thus, in Fig.1 the pin 29 is shown engaging the lever at 4:30 oclock. Then, as thedisk revolves (in a clockwise direction) the next pin p, which is spacedfrom the pin 29 a distance of three and one-half (3%) hours or seventwenty-fourths (7/24) of the circumference of the disk 1, will engageand trip said lever. The space between the pins p and p (the pin pengaging the lever at 12 oclock) is four (4) hours or four-twelfths(4/12) of the circumference of the disk. The space between the pins pand p represents the length of the lunch hour'a half hour in thiscase-or ong twenty-fourth (1/24) of the circumference of the disk. Thespace between 12 :30 and 4:30 oclock (the end of the lunch hour andquitting time) is four (4) hours or four-twelfths (4/12) of thecircumference of the disk. The spacing between the pins as aboveoutlined merely serves as a single example, it being obvious that anyother spacing may be improvised to suit conditions, and that the pinsmay be located with relation to any hours on the clock dial.

1t is of course desirable that no signal be given during the\nighthours, or when the workmen are not expected at their appointed places ofoccupation, that is to say, the signals should be given during alternatetwelve hours of the clock dial. The manner of restricting the signals tothe twelve hours covering the period of work will be explained later on.The lever 7 upon being tripped by the pin 29 (Fig. 1) draws on the linksS, 9, which in turn oscillate the lever' 13 through what may be termedas the drivestroke, said lever 13 drawing the rack-bar 14 with it,thereby causing the pinion 15 and fly wheel 16 to be rotated in aclockwise direction. )When the pin 22 releases the lever 7 the latterwill assume its original position (Fig. 3) under the lifting influenceof the spring 11, and be arrested in its movement by the stop 12. Themovement of the lever 7 under the influence of the spring 11 may betermed the return stroke, and it will be observed that all the partsaffected by the tension of the spring 11 will move in the oppositedirection to that of the drive stroke. The fly wheel acts as a governorduring this return stroke since much of the force exerted by the spring11 is spent in rotating the fly wheel and thereby preventing a too rapidreturn of the parts to their original position. By using a strong spring11 the fly wheel can be rotated rapidly and if we use a comparativelyweak spring the fly wheel can be caused to rotate slowly.

It will be observed by a reference to Fig. 6, that when the lever 7draws on the link 8, said link will slide along link 9 until the lowerstrap 10, on the link S, strikes the lug 9 terminating the link 9, atwhich time both links will travel as a unit. Referring to Fig. 8, andassuming as shown by the arrow in said ligure, that the lever 7 ismoving upward or in the reverse direction from that indicated in Fig. 6,it follows that in stead of the lever 7 pulling on the link 8 downward,it will push on said link upward, thus causing the link S and straps 10,10, to slide upward along the link 9, the play between the links 8, 9,being availed of by the lever 7 in its drive and return strokes asobvious from the drawings. The spring contacts 34, 34, bearing againsttheir respective studs 36, 3G', force these studs apart with their links8 and 9 so that normally said contacts are held apart from each other.However, when the lever 7 is forced to make its return stroke (Fig. 8)under the influence of the spring 11, the force of the spring 11 issuicient to overcome that of the contacts 34, 34, this causing the link8 to slide over link 9, thereby shortening the space between the studs36, 36', and bringing the contacts 34, 34, together which closes thecircuit about to be traced. After the pin 10 has engaged the lever 7(for example at 4:30 oclock) it continues in its revolution with thedisk 1 and next encounters one of the arms 20 of the disk 19, causingsaid disk to rotate through an arc of sixty (60) degrees or one-sixth ofa complete rotation (there being six arms to the disk). The traverse ofthe disk 19 through the arc (G0 degrees) referred to causes the gravitylever 21 to engage and rest on two of the pins m, m, (which are three innumber and disposed onehundred and twenty degrees apart), the connectingline between which may be regarded as one side of an equilateraltriangle, and which side the lever 21 may be said to span. New, byreferring to Figs. 1 and 4 it will be seen that the lever 21 is restingon but a single pin or on what may be considered as one of the verticesof the triangle above referred to, that position of the lever being thehighest assumed thereby, and the position of said lever when resting ontwo pins or along one of the sides of the triangle (Fig. 3) being thelowest assumed thereby. When the lever Q1 is in its lowest position, thecontacts 30, 31, are allowed to spring apart, this condition remaininguntil the pin p" has completed a full revolution (360 degrees) from thepoint of initial engageineeev ment with an arm (20) of the disk 19, whenthe disk will again be rotated or advanced angularly sixty degrees, andcause the presentation o1 a single pin m to the lever 21, therebyelevating the lever and forcing the stud 22 thereoil against the bottomspring contact arm 30, and causing the Contact terminal 31 thereof toengage the contact arm 30 (Fig. l).

ln Fig. lthe pin ,n has just released the lever 7 which immediatelystarts on its return stroke during the initial portion or tra-vel orwhich it forces together the contacts 311, 34, the pin 72 havingpreviously rotated the disk 19 suiliciently to cause one of the pins mto engage and lii't the lever 21 to cause the latter to litt the arm 30and force the contact 31 against the contact 30. Under the conditionsjust described the electric circuit which we will now trace is closed,thus sounding an alarm and notifying the employees to begin worl Thiscircuit is as follows: from the battery B, through the wire 27, socketcontact 26, contact 30, contact 31, arm 30, conductor 33, rubbingcontact at fc, spring contact 34', spring' contact 3l, rubbing contactconductor 33, contact 26, wire 27, bell lt, wire 23, battery B (Figs. 1and fl). rlhe alarm or signal will continue to sound until the lever 7strikes the stop or arresting bracket 12 (Fig. 3) when the link 3coupled to said lever will be arrested in its upward movement. Thereuponthe spring contact arm 3i engaging the pin 36 on the link 9 will liftsaid link suiiiciently (or until the lug 9 strikes the lower strap 10)to cause a separation or break between the members 34, 34 the signalcoming to a stop. Assuming that the signal referred to was the morningor eight oclock signal, we see (Fig. 1-) that the lever 21. is restingon a single pin m or on a vertex of the triangle whose sides connect thethree pins m.

lt was pointed ont above that the pins p, p, p, were short, and the pin29 long; and in this connectionit may be stated that the lengths ot' thepins p, p, p, are insuicient to reach the arms 2O of the star-disk 19,the pin 29 being the only one et the series long enough to foul the armsof said disk. lt follows therefore that the lever 21 (l'ig. 3) will notbe disturbed from its state of rest on the single pin m until the pin p"has again engaged an arm 2O of the disk 19 and rotated the latterthrough an arc of GO degrees. bviously, successive engagements of thearms 20 by the pin pm take place twelve hours apart; and assuming thatthe pin 22 trips an arm 20 say an hour before the pin p trips the lever7 (and for convenience we will assume that the pin 29 trips the lever 7at 8 oclock in the morning and the pin 29 trips an arm 20 at 7 oclock inthe morning),

it is obvious that the pin 20 will not again -causing a separationbetween the contacts 30 and 31 (Fig. 3), so that when the lever 7 f issubsequently (or at 3 oclock at night) tripped by the pin y), no alarmcan be sounded, because of the separation of the contacts 30, 31. Thisis as it should be as no signal at night is desired, all signals (underthe present arrangement) being conined to the working hours between 8 a.m. and L1:30 p. in., as previously pointed out.

Vile have seen from the foregoing how the circuit was closed by the pinp tripping the lever 7 and subsequently releasing the same, and how thecontacts Bel, 341', were allowed to come together for closing saidcircuit, am, how the circuit was broken by the arrest ot the lever 7against the stop l2 and the subsequent parting of the said contacts.lThis operation being now well understood, we need only to add that thesame operations are repeated with the engagements of the pins p, 2;, and29 with the lever 7 at 12 oclock noon, 12:30 p. m. and 4:30 p. m. (or atany other times depending on the disposition and number of pins employedaccording to conditions to be met). lt is oli course within the purviewof the skilled mechanic to provide a disk on the order of 19 or pinslike 27 which will insure night signals it necessary.

lt will be observed that the contacts 311., 34, are only in contact onthe return stroke of the lever 7 so the signal will sound during thelength or this stroke. The object of this is to allow the duration ofthe signal to be regulated by the spring 11; if a. strong spring is usedthe time of the stroke (and signal) will be shortened, while it a weakspring is used the stroke will be slower and the signal longer. lt wouldnot be desirable to have the signal sound on the drive stroke, becausethis stroke is caused by the very slow movement 'of the hour-hand arborand would result in a very prolonged signal. Therefore the sliding links8,' 9, are arranged as described in order that the contacts 34e, 311;',will be in contact only during the return stroke.

lt is obvious that my device is susceptible ci many modifications andchanges in t'orm of the various parts without departing from the spiritof the invention.

Having described my invention what l claim is: V

1. ln a signal actuating device, the combination with a clock providedwith an arbor, of a disk mounted on said arbor and adapted to rotatetherewith, suitable formalili.)

tions projecting from the face of said disk, a suitable electric signal,an electric circuit, means actuated by said formations for closing thecircuit at one point, and a member adjacent said disk operating to closesaid circuit at another point, and controlled by said formations.

2. In a signal actuating device, the combination with a clock providedwith an arbor, of a disk mounted on said arbor and adapted to rotatetherewith, suitable formations projecting from the face of said disk, asource of electric energy, a suitable signal, an electric circuitinterposed between said source of energy and signal, means actuated bythe formations on said disk for closing one part of said circuit, arotatable member adjacent the disk adapted to be engaged by one of theformations on said disk for closing another part of said circuit, therotatable member coperating with the means actuated by the formations onthe disk to cause the signal to respond at predetermined intervalsduring every other revolution of the disk, substantially as set forth.

3. In a signal actuating device, the combination with a clock providedwith a rotatable arbor, of a disk mounted on said arbor and adapted torotate therewith, suitable formations projecting from the face of saiddisk, a source of electric energy, a signal device, an electric circuitinterposed between said source of yenergy and signal device, a leveradapted to be oscillated by the formations on aforesaid disk, andgovernor-controlled means coperating with said lever for closing theelectric circuit upon an oscillation of the lever in one directionwhereby said signal is made responsive.

il. In a signal actuating device, the combination with a clock providedwith a r0- tatable arbor, of a disk mounted on said arbor and adapted torotate therewith, suitable formations projecting from said disk, asource of electric energy, an alarm sounding device, an electric circuitinterposed between said source of electric energy and said device, alever having short and long arms mounted adjacent the disk and adapatedto be engaged by the formations on said disk, links connected to thelong lever arm of said lever and relatively slidable on each other, arotatable member contiguous to the disk and adapted to be engaged by oneof the formations on said disk, the aforesaid links operating to closeone part of the circuit upon oscillation of the lever in one direction,and the rotatable member operating to close another part of said circuitat prede- Copies of this patent may be obtained for nve cents each, byaddressing the termined intervals, thereby causing the alarm to sound,substantially as set forth.

5. In a signal actuating device, the combination with a clock providedwith a rotatable arbor, of a disk mounted on said arbor and adapted torotate therewith, suitable formations projecting from said disk, asource of electric energy, an alarm sounding device, an electric circuitinterposed between said source of energy and sounding device, a leveradapted to be oscillated by the formations on said disk, meanscoperating with said lever for closing the electric circuit upon anoscillation of the lever in one direction, and means for maintainingsaid circuit closed for a certain period of time, whereby a sustainedalarm is sounded.

6. In a device of the character described, an oscillating lever pivotedat an intermediate point of its length, clock-controlled means foractuating said lever, a link coupled pivotally to one arm thereof, asecond link mounted slidably along the first link, a lever pivoted atone end and pivotally coupled at an intermediate point to the adjacentend of the second mentioned link, a rack-bar pivotally coupled to thefree end of the second lever, a pinion engaging said rack-bar, pins onthe links spaced apart, a pair of oscillating spring arms or contactsengaging contiguous faces of the pins, a spring for actuating the firstmentioned lever and links in one direction, and a stop for arresting thelever and permitting independent control of one of the links by thespring arm engaging the pin thereof.

7. In a device of the character described, a chronometrically rotateddisk, a series of pins projecting from one face thereof, one of the pinsbeing longer than the remaining pins of the series, an electric circuit,a pair of normally separated spring contact arms, a lever actuated bythe pins, means interposed between the lever and contacts for closingsaid contacts with a movement of the lever in one direction, a rotatablestar-disk periodically advanced by the long pin of the series, a pair ofspring contact arms norally spaced apart, and means interposed betweensaid star-disk and last mentioned contact arms for forcing the contactstogether at predetermined rotations of the star-disk.

In testimony whereof I aiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH KAUP. Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, ELSE M. Smeer.,

Commissioner of Patente.

Washington. D. G."

